Chicken Pesto "Taco"

Basil Kale Pesto

1 cup fresh basil leaves, quick chop
1 cup fresh kale leaves, quick chop
3 garlic cloves
1/2 lemon, juice
1/4 cup raw walnuts
1/2 cup water

Put the above ingredients in a food processor or blender.

Pulse on low speed, and slowly add 1/4-1/2 cup olive oil as all ingredients start to blend together to desired consistency

Chicken Pesto "Taco"

1 small sprouted Ezekiel tortilla
1-2 Tbsp Basil Kale Pesto
1/2 grilled chicken breast, sliced
1/2 Roma tomato, sliced
handful of fresh arugula

To assemble "Taco"

Spread pesto all over tortilla, add chicken breast slices, then tomato slices and finally top with arugula.
Fold like a Taco & Enjoy!
It was too stuffed for me to call it a wrap, I really like arugula and tomatoes :)

Had this for lunch today with a mango, peeled & sliced. It was amazingly refreshing and easy to make! 

Arugula Salad

Arugula Salad with Roasted Veggies & Grilled Chicken

(Recipe 2 servings)

                          

First thing to start is by roasting the vegetables:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit. 

2. Peel and chop into cubes 1 sweet potato & 1 yam; boil in medium pot for 5-7 minutes until fork tender

3. While those are cooking, clean and trim 10 asparagus 

4. On a large baking sheet, add the asparagus and season with about 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1-2 garlic cloves, sea salt and fresh ground black pepper (to taste).

5. Once the sweet potato and yam are fork tender, transfer the cubes onto the same baking sheet. Season these with 1-2 Tbsp olive oil, small amounts of cayenne pepper, black pepper, and sea salt.

6. Roast these veggies for 15-20 minutes, until potato and yam are browned and asparagus is tender. (Sometimes for the last minute I will put the oven on broil to make a nice crust)

Grill chicken breasts:

While the vegetables are roasting, season 2 chicken breasts with 1/2 of a lemons juice and sprinkle each side with fresh black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and salt. Cook each side on a medium-medium high heat grill pan for 7-8 minutes, until brown and cooked through.

Assemble salad:

1. For the greens, I used a bag of fresh arugula (1/2 bag for each person)

2. Once vegetables and chicken have cooled, top each serving of arugula with half roasted vegetables (chop asparagus spears) and a sliced chicken breast.

3. Top each salad with 1-2 Tbsp raw pumpkin seeds and 1-2 Tbsp raw sunflower seeds.

4. (Optional) If you need a dressing, a mix of lemon juice, agave, olive oil, and pepper is a great option. However, I did not need a dressing since the chicken and veggies were all seasoned.

*This salad works very well without chicken as well if you are a vegetarian or vegan or also if it is being used as a side salad!*

Lemon Chicken

On Thursday night, my mom got 4 free tickets to the Angels, A's baseball game! It was so much fun, but unfortunately the Angels lost.

As a pre-game meal, I made baked chicken on a bed of fresh arugula with grilled veggies, asparagus, sweet potato, and onions.

To bake the chicken, I greased a baking sheet and placed 4 thin breasts on it. I brushed each breast with extra virgin olive oil, and topped with sea salt, ground lemon pepper, dried oregano, fresh minced garlic, and two slices of lemon for each piece of chicken. I put the chicken in a preheated 385 degree oven and baked them for 15-20 minutes (mine were really thinly cut so they cooked really quickly).

While the chicken breasts were baking, I used a grill pan, greased it with Olive oil spray and added fresh asparagus, thick white onion slices, and sweet potato slices (had already peeled & boiled these for 6-8 min previously).. Once on the grill, I seasoned lightly with cayenne pepper (or black pepper works also), and garlic powder. Once there were nice grill marks on the sweet potato and onions I flipped each carefully, and turned over the asparagus.

Once the veggies were done grilling, I turned off the heat. The chicken was done by now and I took the baking sheet out of the oven. I played the chicken on top of a bed of fresh angular and served with a side of veggies!

 

Veggies with grill marks:

 

Final Product!

Greek, Chinese, and Dessert!

Yesterday, before work, I had prepared my chicken greek salad for lunch! Work was so slow, so I also finished reading April Oxygen magazine and finally starting doing my math hw! I picked up the may edition of Clean Eating and Oxygen magazine so I will have something to do Friday at work!

Greek salad with grilled chicken:
3 cups fresh spinach
1/2 tomato, chopped
1/4 cucumber, chopped
1/4 red onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1/4 cup cubed grilled chicken
1-2 tbsp nonfat feta
2 tbsp Trader Joes Nonfat Balsamic Viniagrette

Once I got home from work, I was so hungry! I had left overs from the Sweet & Sour Chicken recipe so I decided to make it into a "fried" quinoa with green beans and broccoli. I was hoping that by mixing the left overs with the quinoa and veggies it would mellow the spice. It worked! It was still spicy, but not nearly as bad.

I mixed the left over chicken & bell pepper and sautéed it with 1/4 cup cooked quinoa and a lot steamed broccoli and green beans! I used Trader Joes Olive Oil Spray which has no calories! So it was a healthy "fried" quinoa.

After dinner, I was craving an apple crisp so I decided to experiment! I was determined to make a "healthy" apple crisp, so I used no butter nor oil, and added ground flaxseed, wheat germ and fresh blueberries!

Before:

After:

Final Product:

Recipe will be up soon! Putting the final touches together :)

Hot Hot Hot!

For dinner, I cooked Clean Chinese Sweet & Sour Chicken! Holy moly it was spicy! I do not eat spicy foods very often, because both my mouth and tummy are sensitive to foods that are too hot. However, I am definitely getting into the spicy life. I got this recipe idea from April 2012 Oxygen Magazine.

~4 oz. chicken breast, diced into bite size pieces

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 red bell pepper, diced

Sauce: 1 Tbsp ketchup (low-sodium recommended)

1 Tbsp peach preserves (low sugar recommended)

 1 Tbsp spicy brown mustard

Combine first three ingredients in a bowl until chicken is completely covered. 

Add olive oil cooking spray to a saucepan then add chicken, cook 6-8 minutes on medium to medium-high heat until browned and cooked through.

Meanwhile, dice bell peppers and set aside, then combine the three ingredients for the sauce in a separate bowl.

After the chicken is cooked, add the bell peppers and sauce to the skillet and lower heat. Continue to cook for 5 minutes until heated through.

(Makes 1 serving; 230 calories, 2g fat, 20g carbs, 28g protein)

I served this with brown rice-quinoa mixture and steamed broccoli, green beans, and carrots.

Next time I made this (which I definitely will!), I will add the steamed veggies to the chicken-bell pepper mixture for the last few minutes of cooking to give them some extra flavor and hopefully make the dish a little less spicy! 

For the boy, I made him steamed veggies, brown rice-quinoa mixture and grilled chicken. Simple, tastey and healthy all at once! He is not a fan of the spicy food, so he got the regular chicken, veggie dinner.

Prepping Ahead

Today is a long day at work, 12 hours, starting before the sun even comes up! So I prepped all my meals last night before bed.

Early breakfast: Mini breakfast shake
Late breakfast: Regular shake

The shake is very similar to the one I did yesterday, but instead of blueberries I put a whole sliced kiwi and added a scoop of vanilla protein powder!

For lunch I made a salad with mixed greens, chopped red bell pepper, celery, tomato, cucumber and non fat feta cheese.

For snacks I brought a sliced orange and a handful of raw pistachios.







After prepping my meals for today, I made dinner! It was a simple and typical dinner but still tasty nonetheless. Left over grilled chicken with a drizzle of ketchup (I know, I know), 1/4 cup brown rice & quinoa, and a hearty serving of steamed broccoli. I did treat myself to a glass of white wine because I fought temptation by not having pizza for lunch when I met up with some friends, and also for the Lakers win last night ;) 

Grilled Chicken Night!

I do love grilled chicken. I top it with a little olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, and Lawry's seasoning salt. Last night I served it with roasted asparagus, steamed carrots, steamed peas and a brown rice/quinoa mixture. I had to have a glass of Sauvignon blanc too!

If I know I am going to be busy during the week, like this week (43 hours work + school!), then either on Sunday night or Monday night I will try to grill chicken and make some brown rice to have for a couple dinners since these are both easy to combine with different ingredients to make new meals. I unfortunately don't always remember to do this but I at least try to keep a few things in my fridge that are easy and healthy dinners that will last a few days so I can easily heat them up with minimal work after a long day.

I work 9 1/2 hours today, double shift, and I am having some of the brown rice I cooked last night and some broccoli I steamed this morning.

Tomorrow I will add the chicken on top of my lunch salad or heat it up for dinner!

Greek Food

So I just had Daphne's California Greek Cafe for the first time and was quite impressed. I got the grilled chicken kebabs, side Greek salad with light dressing, fire roasted veggies and it came with whole wheat pita and tzatziki. I looked online and found some good Greek recipes I want to try, I like to make Greek salads at home but I am going to try to expand my knowledge about Greek food!




"Good For You Greek Salad"


 

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• • 1 large ripe tomatoes, chopped
  • 5/8 cucumbers, peeled and chopped
  • 3/8 small red onion, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1-1/4 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
  • 2 black Greek olives, pitted and sliced
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In shallow salad bowl, or on serving platter, combine tomatoes, cucumber, and onion. Sprinkle with oil, lemon juice, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle feta cheese and olives over salad. Serve. 

Only 190 calories per serving! A great substitution is with Fat Free Feta, Trader Joe's has a good one; they taste the same yet you cut out a lot of calories!

Recipe From: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Good-for-You-Greek-Salad/Detail.aspx 

"Greek Couscous Salad"

 

Ingredients for 4 Servings:

• 5/8 (6 ounce) package garlic and herb couscous mix (or any flavor you prefer)
• 1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 1/4 (5 ounce) jar pitted kalamata olives, halved
• 3 tablespoons and 1/2 teaspoon mixed bell peppers (green, red, yellow, orange), diced
• 1/4 cucumber, sliced and then halved
• 1 tablespoon and 1-3/4 teaspoons parsley, finely chopped
• 1/4 (8 ounce) package crumbled feta cheese
• 1 tablespoon and 1-3/4 teaspoons Greek vinaigrette salad dressing

Cook couscous according to package directions. Transfer to a large serving bowl to cool. Stir to break up clusters of couscous.When the couscous has cooled to room temperature, mix in tomatoes, olives, bell peppers, cucumber, parsley, and feta. Gradually stir vinaigrette into couscous until you arrive at desired moistness.

Only 160 calories per serving!

Recipe from: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Party-Size-Greek-Couscous-Salad/Detail.aspx

"Yia Yia's Tzatziki Sauce" 

Ingredients

• 2 English cucumbers
• 2 (16 ounce) containers sour cream
• 1 (16 ounce) container Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Peel cucumbers and grate into a colander. Squeeze out excess water.Mix together sour cream, yogurt, garlic, and olive oil in a large bowl. Stir in cucumbers. Chill at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours before serving.

Good alternative to the Tzatziki I made the other day which required fresh dill. I would use non-fat greek yogurt and most likely no sour cream. Tzatziki is great with whole wheat pita, on sandwiches, with chicken, even as a veggie dip! At Daphne's they served Tzatziki with Pita; I spread the sauce on each Pita slice and topped it with some of the Fire Roasted veggies, it was like a pizza!

Recipe from: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Yia-Yias-Tzatziki-Sauce/Detail.aspx

"Grilled Chicken Breast with Cucumber and Bell Pepper Relish"

 Ingredients for 4 Servings:

• 1 cucumber - peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1/8 cup chopped red onion
• 1/2 cup chopped yellow bell pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon chili powder
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
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• In a medium bowl, prepare the relish by mixing together the cucumber, parsley, chopped onion, bell pepper, and red pepper flakes. Set aside. In a small bowl, mix the cumin and chili powder with the olive oil. Rub the mixture onto the chicken, and place in a shallow dish. Marinate in the refrigerator at least 1 hour.
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• Prepare the grill for medium heat. Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill chicken 8 minutes per side, or until juices run clear. Serve with cucumber relish.

Recipe From: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/grilled-chicken-breast-with-cucumber-and-pepper-relish/detail.aspx

"Martinated Greek Chicken Kebabs"

 Ingredients for 2 Servings:

• 1/2 (8 ounce) container fat-free plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons crumbled feta cheese with basil and sun-dried tomatoes
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary
• 1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1/2 large red onion, cut into wedges
• 1/2 large green bell pepper, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

In a large shallow baking dish, mix the yogurt, feta cheese, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, salt, pepper, and rosemary. Place the chicken in the dish, and turn to coat. Cover, and marinate 3 hours in the refrigerator. Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat. Thread the chicken, onion wedges, and green bell pepper pieces alternately onto skewers. Discard remaining yogurt mixture. Grill skewers on the prepared grill until the chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

Recipe From: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/marinated-greek-chicken-kabobs/detail.aspx

Left Overs Jazzed Up

With my left overs from the Greek Chicken I made the previous night, I added asparagus, mushrooms and spinach to the sautée. It was a great way to jazz up my left overs.

Greek Chicken

I made up a recipe that I call Greek Chicken. It was grilled chicken breasts with sautéed artichoke hearts, kalamati olives, onions, garlic, and cherry tomatoes with garlic and oregano.